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Nashandra
Nashandra is the final boss and main antagonist of Dark Souls II. Location Throne of Want, after defeating the Throne Watcher and Defender, and having the Giant's Kinship in the player's possession. The King's Ring is also required to open the King's Gate that leads to Nashandra. Description A tall humanoid creature wielding a long scythe in her right hand. Her left hand emanates a purple light that can become an energy beam or cause an explosion when she puts it near her chest. Her legs are covered by a skirt made of a black goo filled with bones. She can also summon four black fountains that curse those who stand near them. She can speak and can change into a more human, yet still gigantic, form. Lore Nashandra began her life as a small fragment of Manus, Father of the Abyss. When Manus was defeated, he was reborn as many fragments varying in sizes. Nashandra was the smallest fragment, and because of this, it was the first to become conscious and started to want what it did not have: power. Nashandra traveled to the land of Drangleic, where she seduced King Vendrick. She warned Vendrick of a looming threat beyond the sea: the Giants. She convinced Vendrick to invade the land of the giants and to claim an artifact of great power. Using this artifact, Vendrick created the Golems, which he used to build Drangleic Castle. After this, and under the leadership of Vendrick and Nashandra, Drangleic went into a Dark-like peace. After an unknown period of time, the giants, driven by rage and vengeance, invaded Drangleic to reclaim what Vendrick stole from them. They laid siege to Drangleic in a war that lasted for generations, but were ultimately defeated when the Giant Lord was vanquished by an unknown hero. Despite this victory, Drangleic had been reduced to rubble and was now beset by the plague of the undead. Vendrick tried desperately to find a way to save his kingdom, banishing the undead to far-off lands and working to find a way to cure the undead plague. Eventually, he came to realize the true nature and identity of Nashandra, and that she coveted the Throne Of Want. Knowing that his time was short and that his queen had to be stopped, Vendrick created several impasses that would prevent Nashandra from seizing the throne, and sealed himself away in the Undead Crypt. This left Nashandra the sole ruler of Drangleic. Nashandra attempts to manipulate the Bearer of the Curse into opening the way to the Throne of Want. She directs the Bearer of the Curse toward the Undead Crypt, suggesting that they put an end to the now hollowed King Vendrick. She directs the Bearer of the Curse to follow the symbol of the king and journey to Aldia's Keep. After the Bearer of the Curse meets the Ancient Dragon, she will warn that the dragon is no more than a prop and a false deity, and directs the Bearer of the Curse toward the Forest of Fallen Giants to visit the memories of the Giants. Once the Bearer of the Curse has finally cleared the way to the Throne and acquired the means to access it, Nashandra will stand ready to usurp their quest and claim the throne for herself. Strategy Nashandra specializes in dark magic and will immediately summon four Curse-inducing "fountains" once the battle starts. She has two methods of attack in addition to inflicting Curse on your character and eating away at their health: Scythe: She will swing her scythe sideways one, two, or three times (the third having a slightly longer windup and dealing heavy stamina damage on block), or do an overhead swing with a long recovery time. Her scythe swings can easily stagger characters with low adaptability and poise. Rolling diagonally backwards is the most effective way at dodging both of these attacks when close to her. Dark Magic: She will either fire a beam that starts on the floor close to her and emits outward from the floor vertically, which can easily be avoided by strafing, or execute a small area of effect attack similar to Wrath of the Gods. If she begins casting and her body is not being covered in dark energy, then she will use the beam; otherwise, it is the area-of-effect attack and you must back away. If you look closely, you will also notice that her hand movement is different for each attack (she draws her hand close to her chest when using Wrath of the Gods). She also has another type of beam which sweeps horizontally, so be aware of the direction of the beams as these beams are usually fatal when combined with the health drain. For melee characters it is also possible to equip light armor and dodge her attacks, ignoring the Curse buildup and only healing when your health starts draining. Also a good method for melee users is to wait at a distance for her to come towards the player, baiting her away from the four curse fountains. The curse fountains can be broken stopping the curse build up and health drain. Summoning help will make the fight easier, even if it's only the two characters Vengarl of Forossa and Benhart of Jugo, as they will draw attention, leaving you with a good amount of room to deal damage and heal as needed. An effective strategy if one has pyromancies is to stay far away until she fires her vertical "laser", then simply lobbing flame attacks at her. Attacks *'Curse Fountains': Summons several white fountains that build up your curse meter. They can be destroyed by a single strike or by a roll. *'Laser Beam': Her hand fills with darkness and fires a beam at the player. Can be either an easily dodged vertical, or a sweeping shot much like the Duke's Dear Freja. (Can be dodged by rolling backwards; Just be wary of the holes in the arena.) *'Dark Explosion': Her hand fills with darkness and she brings it closer to her chest. Once her whole body begins to emanate darkness, she releases an area of effect dark attack, similar to Wrath of the Gods. *'Overhead Strike': Performs an overhead attack with her scythe. Easily dodged. *'Swings': Swings her scythe twice in a row. Defenses Drops Notes *Throwing a Holy Water Urn at the right positioning, angle and time, will freeze Nashandra completely due to a glitch, making the fight very easy. *If the player has obtained the Giant's Kinship before defeating the Throne Watcher and Defender, then Nashandra's cutscene will trigger as soon as they are defeated and the fight with her will begin immediately. **This cutscene will be slightly different from obtaining the Kinship after defeating the Throne Watcher and Defender. Obtaining the Kinship beforehand will cause Nashandra to enter the arena through the fog gate. Obtaining the Kinship after the first boss fight will cause Nashandra to already be waiting inside the arena. The cutscene will also play in this manner if the player dies while fighting her, when reentering the arena after respawning. *Any summoned characters or players who survived the fight between the Throne Watcher and Defender will stay with the host to defeat Nashandra; however, they will not receive two rewards (Token of Fidelity or Sunlight Medal). *By burning a Bonfire Ascetic on the King's Gate bonfire in Drangleic Castle, Nashandra can be respawned. *Wearing the Black Witch Veil, Hollow Skin, or any of the four crowns already infused with Vendrick's blessing will grant immunity to Curse; however, the player will still take continual damage whenever near the curse fountains. Gallery SotFS NashandraIngame.jpg|Nashandra as she appears in the game Nashandra concept.png|Concept art of Nashandra's human form NashandraQueen.jpg|Queen Nashandra in Drangleic Nashandra - 01.png|Nashandra's cursed portrait in Drangleic Castle Videos Music Dark Souls 2 OST 24 Queen of Drangleic Dark Souls II Soundtrack OST - Nashandra pl:Nashandra Category:Dark Souls II: Bosses